FBI: Yes, Our Spy Tech Screws Up Your Cell Service

Stingrays, the FBI's favorite cell phone surveillance tool, also harms the cell service of anyone nearby, Wired has discovered.

The technique works by creating a fake cell phone tower that connects to the surveillance target's phone and allows the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to track their movements. Stingrays allow 911 calls to pass through, but most other calls are affected, including non-911 calls to others in emergency situations. Civil liberties groups and others have complained that stingrays might affect users other than the intended surveillance target.

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Turns out they were right: FBI Special Agent Michael A. Scimeca told a judge that a Stingray can disrupt nearby service, with the worst side effects coming on Sprint networks. The technology has the potential to inadvertently drop or block the calls of bystanders.

While stingray device maker the Harris Corporation claims that they're only used in emergencies, Wired found that Tallahassee, FL police, for example, used them for emergencies only 29 percent of the time and made them instead part of regular investigations.

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